Writing Effective Cross-Channel Teasers

Studies have presented results ranging from 247 to more than 3,000 as the number of offers and marketing messages we encounter in one day. Truth is, we don’t notice that we’ve even been exposed to half of them. If we were to believe the lower number of 247, you begin to get the picture of how difficult it is to grab, let alone keep, the attention of a consumer. What to do? Among other things, you MUST have teaser lines that work! Whether it’s for their inbox or their mailbox, your audience will decide in about 3 seconds whether they will stop, look, watch, listen or read any more about your brand. And that’s assuming they even noticed you in the first place!

Effective teaser lines, although short, can be one of the most difficult parts of your messaging to write. Maintaining the simplicity of the message, keeping it to one quick sentence, question or thought, while working in a call-to-action, can be a trifecta of frustration for even experienced copywriters.

We recommend cruising up and down your local bookstore or grocer’s magazine aisle or perusing the assortment of ads in your daily mail to see if you can find the call-outs that grab your attention. What made this teaser pop? What words did you gravitate to? Did the teasers make you want to respond or participate? Seeing examples of teasers that work will help you gain the insight you need in writing your own effective teaser lines.

To give you a little help in starting out, we’re sharing 15 tips for writing effective teaser copy from Target Marketing’s article Hook, Line and Sinker written by Pat Friesen.